As soon as September rolls around, I’m ready for fall and looking forward to one of my favorite fall treats – Pumpkin Spice Lattes. The problem is, I live in South Carolina and we still have temperatures in the 90s, making those PSL’s much less enjoyable.

Last year, I came across the idea of an iced pumpkin spice latte for the first time and I was hooked. Of course I had to play around with some ideas and come up with a recipe of my own. (Let’s face it, I can’t afford to head down to the local coffee shop once a day to pick one up there).

This is such a great lunch time treat or afternoon pick-me-up. My favorite time to fix it is right before I head out to pick my daughter up from school. I get to relax for a few minutes in the car pickup line, do a little knitting and sip on my drink.

Last fall I got addicted to all things pumpkin spice, particularly Pumpkin Spice Lattes. I don’t have to tell you that these tasty drinks can eat quite a whole in your purse if you head out and order them at your local coffee place.

Add to that the fact that I’m eating clean and try to stay away from refined sugar and dairy. But with chatter all around about these tasty coffee concoctions, I wanted my PSL fix.

Let’s start with a basic recipe that creates a very tasty latte. Of course I’m using my own pumpkin spice mix that I shared with you a few days ago. Below the recipe I give you variations that include a sugar-free and dairy-free options.

What I love best about this recipe is the fact that it includes actual pumpkin. You can use either canned or freshly cooked pumpkin puree. You can also roast a whole pumpkin, process the flesh into puree and then freeze it in ice cube trays. When you’re ready for a Pumpkin Spice Latte or a pumpkin flavored hot chocolate, just thaw a cube and use. Yum!

Note – Since I’m the only PSL enthusiast in my house, the recipe is for 1 latte. You can easily double, triple or quadruple the recipe if you need to make more than one

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a small saucepan and whisk together. Heat until the mixture is hot and bubbly.

Pour the hot coffee or espresso into a large mug. Add the pumpkin milk mixture. Top with either the foamy part of the milk or some whipped cream.

Finish with a dusting of spice or cocoa and enjoy.

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* Variations

As promised, I have some variations for you. Feel free to mix and match depending on your own preference and dietary restrictions.

Sugar Free Version

Replace the sugar with a sweetener of your choice. For a natural sugar substitute use honey, maple syrup or stevia. Stevia is my preferred low calorie sweetener, but this will also work with splenda and the likes. When using honey or maple syrup add 1 tbsp to replace the sugar. With low calorie sweeteners, leave out the sugar and add the sweetener to the finished latte to taste.

Dairy Free Version

Replace the milk with an equal amount of coconut milk, almond milk, soy milk or rice milk. My personal favorite is coconut milk. It makes for a nice thick latte.

Paleo Version

Use honey or maple syrup as your sweetener instead of sugar. Replace the milk with coconut or almond milk.

I had a request today to come up with a recipe for some green tea lemonade. This recipe is inspired by the green tea lemonade sold at your local Starbucks. It’s such a fun iced drink with just a right bit of kick to it to get you through your hot summer day.

Please note that I said inspired. I don’t consider this a complete copy cat recipe but encourage you to give it a try.

This was surprisingly easy to make and turned out quite tasty. I’m giving you several options for sweetening your new favorite drink. I used local honey in mine, but feel free to substitute to your liking and sweeten to taste. My drink was only very slightly sweet… just enough to take the edge of the lemon juice.

Pour the honey, sugar or other sweetener of your choice into a mason jar or similar container. Add the tea bag and pour the boiling water into it. Allow the tea to steep for 3 to 5 minutes. Don't let it go longer than 5 minutes or you'll end up with a bitter tasting drink. Discard the bag and stir until your sweetener is completely dissolved.

Add a cup of very cold water and the lemon juice to the mixture. This will allow it to cool down considerably. Give it a little taste and add more sweetener if needed.

Pour over lots of ice and enjoy.

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You can easily double this recipe and store the resulting tea lemonade concentrate in the fridge for the next day.

* Tip for getting the most juice out of your lemon. Either roll it on the counter for a few minutes, pressing down with the palm of your hand, or stick it in the microwave for 15 seconds.

On a hot afternoon like today, I wish I could head back to my German hometown and stop by the local ice cream place for an “Eiskaffee”. It’s a sweet, delicious take on iced coffee. It’s quick and easy to make and the end result is more of a sweet treat than a beverage. Perfect for a hot summer afternoon.

You can just as easily turn this into a treat for the kids by making an “Eisschokolade”. Just replace the coffee in the recipe below with chocolate milk.

Scoop the ice cream into a tall glass. Pour the cold coffee in and top with whipped cream. Add a sweetener of your choice if needed. I find the vanilla ice cream sweetens up the coffee enough for me. If you prefer it sweeter, either use an artificial sweetener that dissolves well in cold liquids, or add a little sugar to your coffee while it's still hot, then allow it to cool and use the sweetened version in your iced coffee.

If you're making this for company, consider adding a sprinkle of cocoa powder or instant coffee to the top of the whipped cream.

Put the spinach in your blender and fill about half way up with fresh water, then blend until smooth, adding more water to get the consistency you want to drink. Once you have it blended, add the diced pear, ginger root, and ¼ cup mint leaves. Blend, add more water if necessary, and taste. Add more mint if you like, then blend until frothy.

Serve immediately. Will make 1 serving and is easily doubled.

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On St. Patrick’s Day Everyone Can Be Irish

St. Patrick’s Day gives us all an excuse to have some fun and eat delicious comfort foods.

Just thinking about corned beef, cabbage & soda bread give me goose bumps. Those classic Irish dishes are among some of my favorite but it’s fun when you can find new recipes that make your tummy happy.

Since St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner I thought it would be nice to put together some recipes and crafts and create a kindle ebook to celebrate.

You’ll find delicious Irish food along with a bunch of crafts that your family will enjoy creating together.

And remember, with all Kindle ebooks, you don’t need a Kindle to download them. Amazon makes it easy to put right on your computer, laptop, or other e-reader or device. And the price is right, too!

We were recently blessed with two large watermelons from the garden of a family friend. They are treat just cut up into chunks, but there’s only so many slices of watermelon you can eat, no matter how great they taste. With quite a bit of watermelon leftover, I did some searching and came up with some ideas for watermelon coolers. They make the perfect summer drink and all you need is a blender. I had already removed the rind and cut the watermelon into chunks. They were sitting in a covered bowl in the fridge waiting to be turned into yummy (and healthy) drinks.

Fill your blender to the top with watermelon chunks. As you start blending, feel free to add a few more if your blender can hold more. Add the lime juice and sugar and blend until liquefied. I start with a teaspoon of sugar and add more if needed.

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Serve the coolers right away, or store them in the fridge for a day. If you have leftovers, freeze them in ice cube trays and use them to add a little flavor to plain water.

I love smoothies for breakfast on a warm summer day. Here’s one of my favorites. You can make it with fresh or frozen mango chunks. If you’re using frozen, you can skip the ice.

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup fresh mango chunks

sweetener to taste

1/2 cup ice

Put all ingredients into your blender and blend until smooth. I start without sweetener. Most of the time the sweetness in the Orange juice is enough to balance out the tartness of the Mango. If you want it a little sweeter, try adding a bit of sugar, honey or your favorite low-calorie sweetener.

Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth and the sugar has dissolved. Chill in the fridge for about an hour and serve.

A delicious and refreshing summertime drink!

When the weather gets warmer, the last thing you want to do is stand over the stove, cooking a big meal. Not only is it hot in the kitchen, but the thought of eating a hot, heavy meal just doesn't sound very appetizing.

Canadian musician Allison Crowe shares her slightly spicy hot chocolate recipe with us. Like many people who enjoy cooking, she has a the little secret ingredient that makes this cocoa special. [Read more…]

Smoothie’s can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make them. This video shows that even a toddler can help prepare a tasty and nutritious smoothie for breakfast, lunch, or a delicious snack. And smoothie’s are the perfect beverage to carry along in a sippy-cup! [Read more…]

Beat eggs then place eggs, sugar and salt into a large saucepan. With stove temperature low, gradually stir in milk and keep stirring until the mixture starts to thicken (it takes about 20 minutes). Remove from heat and cool in the refrigerator. Once mixture has been cooled, pour into punch bowl and stir in vanilla extract and 1 tsp ground nutmeg.

Topping:
Beat whipping cream with mixer until it forms soft peaks. Gently add to the top of the eggnog mixture. Dust with nutmeg.

The Dining On A Dime Cookbook is packed with over 1,200 money saving recipes and tips, kids tips and snack ideas, gift baskets, menus, food storage directions, Cleaning Cents and Pretty for Pennies. The recipes are easy to cook with ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. To make shopping easy and economical, it also includes a pantry list and a shopping list.

Watermelon smoothies are a great healthy way to stay cool and refreshed this summer. They are very simple to make and you can very them up quite a bit. These smoothies are also the perfect way to use up all that extra watermelon that’s left when you buy a big one. Here’s how to make these simple smoothies.

Start by cutting some of the watermelon into bite sized chunks. Make sure the rind is off and you remove any seeds. Now you’re ready to work on your smoothie.

Watermelon Smoothie

3 cups watermelon chunks

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (option)

1 tsp lemon or lime juice

sugar to taste if needed

Put everything into your blend and blend until smooth. If the watermelon is good and ripe you should not need any extra sugar. It should also provide enough moisture to turn this into a deliciously creamy smoothie. If the mixture seems a bit try, add a splash of milk or fruit juice to thin it out.

You can also leave out the yogurt if you prefer and just increase the watermelon chunks to 4 cups.

I love this smoothie as a healthy breakfast the day after Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving morning while I’m busy cooking.

1 can (16 oz.) cranberry sauce

1 bag (16 oz) frozen unsweetened peach slices, partially thawed

1 container (6 oz) vanilla yogurt

3/4 cup orange juice

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Add everything in blender and blend until smooth. Depending on how sweet your peaches are and how tart the cranberry sauce (and of course depending on your personal taste) you may want to add a little sugar or sweetener to your smoothie.

I always grab a few extra cans of cranberry sauce, just for this smoothie. Cranberries are full of antioxidants and I need all the help I can get after eating all turkey and stuffing.

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